But in a shock u-turn the 59-capped star is back in World Cup contention after a boozy meeting with Red Rose boss Jones last month.

Jones revealed: "Six glasses of red wine he had - though I’m teetotal!

“He made the approach to us that he wants to play. And you can’t help miss him. He is the ugliest player on the field so is easy to pick out. He was in good form, so when he suggested he wanted to come back, we were happy to accept the change of mind.

"He’s committed. If he’s not committed, we’ll find out."

Marler, 28, said that it would be disrespectful to return to the England fold after standing down ahead of the autumn as he felt he hadn't earned his stripes.

But Jones was happy to welcome the colourful character back with open arms as he ramps up his preparations for Japan.

He said: "Young people always change their mind. That’s the prerogative of being young. Joe’s a good player, he made a decision he felt was best for his family at that stage and now he feels he can make a different decision."

Jones also promised to look after his 20 stone loosehead if the Harlequins hulk shows any signs of homesickness.

He added: "We look at each player individually and see what they need. We'll accommodate as much as we can, but there's a level of accommodation that everyone has to live by.

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"The main thing for him is the welfare of his family and we'll make sure we do everything we can to help him in that area."

Scrum-half Ben Youngs was delighted to see Marler back in the mix to support first-choice Mako Vunipola who is currently battling back from hamstring surgery.

The Leicester Tigers ace said: "I'm delighted for him.

"When someone as good and as talented as Joe, with 50 caps for England at 28 says I'm content and I'm going to finish now, probably the carrot of the World Cup has probably just made him think he wants to be a part of it.

"And he just probably missed it all because playing for England, it's an unbelievable thing to do. It's great fun and we've got a great team. He kept it very quiet, you know what he's like, he doesn't give much away."

Marler's return was the biggest shock on a day that Jones also called-up the uncapped foursome of Lewis Ludlam, Willi Heinz, Ruaridh McConnochie and Jack Singleton.

And there were more casualties as Mike Brown, England's most-capped full-back, had his Japan dreams ended after the axing of Danny Care and Chris Robshaw last month.